Scrip can pay dividends if the collectors cash in

Old bond and share certificates can be worth a lot more than the paper theyre printed on, writes Kathy Foley

BUY bonds and invest in shares. As advice on personal finance goes, it is not the most original. Collectors, however, see it differently. Scripophily is the practice of collecting old stock and bond certificates. Although these pieces of paper, or scrip, cannot usually be traded on a stock exchange, they can still prove valuable.

Scripophily emerged as a hobby in the early 1970s in Germany, which, with 30,000 collectors, is one of the largest markets for old scrip. It is also popular in Holland, the UK and America, and the number of collectors is growing as paperless shares are increasingly the norm. The number of Irish collectors, however, scarcely reaches double figures, and few of those regard scrip as a serious investment.

Peter Sheen, a Dublin-based coin, medal and scrip dealer, says: “It’s not the money that interests them. Most Irish people collect thematically. A collector might want any memorabilia